Shed money Clio 172
Discussion
Cambs_Stuart said:
Koolkat969 said:
Can't go wrong with BH. Need to have look at mine also to see what condition it's in.
Was it easy to remove the rear trim and do the rear seats need to come out?
I took the rear seat base out, to be honest it would have been easier with the seat backs out of the way, but i could work round it. You need to undo the rear seatbelt anchor with a 17mm socket and the front seatbelt lower mount with a torx head. The front seatbelt bar doesn't come out all the way, but with it's bolt undone you can lay the card flat on its side. Once they're undone, take the speaker out and work your way round, pulling carefully at the 20 year old brittle platstic clips. Was it easy to remove the rear trim and do the rear seats need to come out?
There isn't much space between the inner and outer skins so access is a pain.
The metal edges on mine are really sharp so my hands look like I've been fighting cats.
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Friday 11th March 14:45
Another step in the noise reduction programme. My theory, based on PhilipMs comments is that the Ktech exhaust is louder and stiffer, combined with the poly bush in the rear exhaust mount has turned the boot floor into a big speaker.
So I've got a new 3d printed exhaust mount.
This should have been an easy job to do. It was hampered by one of the captive nuts on the exhaust mount spinning so it had to be done in situ. The new bush is designed to be tight in the frame so it does take some effort to get in. In trying to do this I had a massive intelligence failure and decided power tools, anger, sweat and tears would be the answer.
However, after some sensible advice from PhilipM, a prybar and some clamps were all that were actually needed. The issue with working on cars is that sometimes what you really need is experience.
So I've got a new 3d printed exhaust mount.
This should have been an easy job to do. It was hampered by one of the captive nuts on the exhaust mount spinning so it had to be done in situ. The new bush is designed to be tight in the frame so it does take some effort to get in. In trying to do this I had a massive intelligence failure and decided power tools, anger, sweat and tears would be the answer.
However, after some sensible advice from PhilipM, a prybar and some clamps were all that were actually needed. The issue with working on cars is that sometimes what you really need is experience.
Bad news on the clio.
After seeing the rust inside the rear panels i thought I'd take the skirts off and have a look at the outside.
So a 4.5 mm drill to remove the rivets, a brief struggle with the plastic clips and 19 years worth of grime was revealed.
There was some minor bubbling, so i thought I'd take it back to bare metal, treat it and paint it.
Access was much better than inside the rear panels, so i could get some proper tools on it and do a through job.
However, the sander just went straight through. The rust has penetrated all the way and now there's a hole.
Time to put the skirt back and have a cry.
Anyone know a good welder/bodyshop in Cambridge?
After seeing the rust inside the rear panels i thought I'd take the skirts off and have a look at the outside.
So a 4.5 mm drill to remove the rivets, a brief struggle with the plastic clips and 19 years worth of grime was revealed.
There was some minor bubbling, so i thought I'd take it back to bare metal, treat it and paint it.
Access was much better than inside the rear panels, so i could get some proper tools on it and do a through job.
However, the sander just went straight through. The rust has penetrated all the way and now there's a hole.
Time to put the skirt back and have a cry.
Anyone know a good welder/bodyshop in Cambridge?
More clio woe (and expense). I was going to nip out and get some quotes for welding but as soon as the clio moved it made a horrible, horrible noise which sounded like it was from the passengers side.
The source was quite obvious when i couldn't get the jack under the car.
The spring has snapped:
At least it happened on the driveway and not at cadwell.
Time for another suspension refresh.
The source was quite obvious when i couldn't get the jack under the car.
The spring has snapped:
At least it happened on the driveway and not at cadwell.
Time for another suspension refresh.
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Tuesday 22 March 13:24
Depending what you want to do with it, with the skirts back on and limited winter use, you've probably got another couple of years before it'll present as something an MOT tester can see. If it's just a track car you aren't that fussed about, Bilt Hamber what you can see, get someone to weld a plate over and carry on using it. Mate of mine has a 182 on 230k ish now, in daily use all year round, few plates welded here and there. They really aren't worth much so having it all cut out and reformed properly is cost prohibitive imo, especially when you can pick up another cheap, swap over the good bits, flog the spares on forums.
zedx19 said:
Depending what you want to do with it, with the skirts back on and limited winter use, you've probably got another couple of years before it'll present as something an MOT tester can see. If it's just a track car you aren't that fussed about, Bilt Hamber what you can see, get someone to weld a plate over and carry on using it. Mate of mine has a 182 on 230k ish now, in daily use all year round, few plates welded here and there. They really aren't worth much so having it all cut out and reformed properly is cost prohibitive imo, especially when you can pick up another cheap, swap over the good bits, flog the spares on forums.
Thanks. My very first car was free after a rust related MOT failure. It was a mk3 ford escort and the floor rotted away. I also had an MG midget that was basically water soluble and my sister had a beetle that regularly lost chunks of body. This rust is almost making me nostalgic...I'm hoping i haven't done my usual "buy cheap and regret it".
I put out a call on the clio sport facebook group for any good suspension. A chap responded with some B14s in the required 54mm fitment for roughly the same price as a set of new cup shocks and grams springs from KAM racing.
Happy that i could be back on the road quickly i jumped in the subaru and bought them.
However, looking at them in the bright spring sunshine there is a lot of flaking paint on the springs. I've given them a wire brush and a soaking of rust converter. Once that's dry I'll give them a coat with hammerite. Hopefully that'll give me a few years use out them.
I put out a call on the clio sport facebook group for any good suspension. A chap responded with some B14s in the required 54mm fitment for roughly the same price as a set of new cup shocks and grams springs from KAM racing.
Happy that i could be back on the road quickly i jumped in the subaru and bought them.
However, looking at them in the bright spring sunshine there is a lot of flaking paint on the springs. I've given them a wire brush and a soaking of rust converter. Once that's dry I'll give them a coat with hammerite. Hopefully that'll give me a few years use out them.
The B14s are on, and I've spent too long crawling round the car with a tape measure and a scrap of paper trying to work out the correct ride height.
This is the diagram from the clio manual.
Based on the instructions above my H1 and H4 measurements (Floor to centre of wheel) are 27 CM. As these are fixed it doesn't matter too much.
More importantly, H2: ground to bottom of subframe is 13.5 on passengers side, 14 cm driver side (with no one in the seat and with 1/8 tank of fuel).
And: H5, ground to centre pivot of rear trailing arm bush is 25.5 CM passengers side and 26 drivers side.
So, since the front can't go any lower, especially without any roll centre correction, in order to get the right rake angle (as measured by comparing H5 to H2) I need to lower the rear by about 2mm on the each side. Assuming the heights don't change when either I get in or I put any fuel in.
To be honest, unless anyone says otherwise, I think this is within the margin of error...
This is the diagram from the clio manual.
Based on the instructions above my H1 and H4 measurements (Floor to centre of wheel) are 27 CM. As these are fixed it doesn't matter too much.
More importantly, H2: ground to bottom of subframe is 13.5 on passengers side, 14 cm driver side (with no one in the seat and with 1/8 tank of fuel).
And: H5, ground to centre pivot of rear trailing arm bush is 25.5 CM passengers side and 26 drivers side.
So, since the front can't go any lower, especially without any roll centre correction, in order to get the right rake angle (as measured by comparing H5 to H2) I need to lower the rear by about 2mm on the each side. Assuming the heights don't change when either I get in or I put any fuel in.
To be honest, unless anyone says otherwise, I think this is within the margin of error...
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Monday 28th March 15:04
More expense on the clio.
Having adjusted the B14s I dropped off at protyre for an alignment and MOT. The alignment wasn't too bad, a slight adjustment needed on the toe, however the MOT was a comprehensive failure. Do Not Drive Until Fixed plus some advisories to work though.
the issue was mainly from the rear callipers, fundamentally they didn't work, nor did the handbrake. And the exhaust wasn't terribly well sealed....
So, two new callipers fitted, plus some NOS Renault discs and spacers I had on the shed. New brake fluid, new rear pads, some adjustment on the handbrake cable and slightly more professional approach to exhaust fitting and the Clio was legal again.
So I celebrated in style, with a very wet, windy, snowy and hail-y day out at Cadwell:
The clio was superb in the very, very slippery conditions. It was a real day to remember. I think this my 12th track day in it.
I also had a look around for the source of the oil leak mentioned in the MOT. There is a lot of oil on the sump, but the sump gasket looks dry. I did spill oil last filter change, but I suspect there is a weep from around the pressure sensor. The power steering pressure switch also looks like it's been weeping:
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/6novALJS.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/p2fwDa5B" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/p2fwDa5B.jpg)
Having adjusted the B14s I dropped off at protyre for an alignment and MOT. The alignment wasn't too bad, a slight adjustment needed on the toe, however the MOT was a comprehensive failure. Do Not Drive Until Fixed plus some advisories to work though.
the issue was mainly from the rear callipers, fundamentally they didn't work, nor did the handbrake. And the exhaust wasn't terribly well sealed....
So, two new callipers fitted, plus some NOS Renault discs and spacers I had on the shed. New brake fluid, new rear pads, some adjustment on the handbrake cable and slightly more professional approach to exhaust fitting and the Clio was legal again.
So I celebrated in style, with a very wet, windy, snowy and hail-y day out at Cadwell:
The clio was superb in the very, very slippery conditions. It was a real day to remember. I think this my 12th track day in it.
I also had a look around for the source of the oil leak mentioned in the MOT. There is a lot of oil on the sump, but the sump gasket looks dry. I did spill oil last filter change, but I suspect there is a weep from around the pressure sensor. The power steering pressure switch also looks like it's been weeping:
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Friday 1st April 13:51
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